Preview

Turn Off the Phone, Turn Off the Tension

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
545 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Turn Off the Phone, Turn Off the Tension
Nguyen, Paula Nguyen 1
9/10/12
Period 2
Zick
Reflection on: Turn Off the Phone (and the Tension)
Jenna Wortham/New York Times/Aug. 25, 2012
The article, “Turn Off the Phone (and the Tension)” by Jenna Wortham, from the New York Times, can be related to most people in our generation. Our generation is filled with new technology and doing things faster and more efficient. I would say the majority of teenagers have smart phones with texting and/or internet. I feel that most people have forgotten to live in the moment and just to enjoy what is around them. I personally know many people who are constantly on social networking sites and updating pictures of their everyday life. For some reason, we care so much about other people's lives and what they are doing every second of the day. But I believe that we need to ask ourselves, "Is this even relevant to me?", "Does this help my life in any way?" I can completely relate to what this article is saying because I have also had these thoughts in my head.
The one thing that most people will always bring when they go out somewhere is their phone. I use to feel naked if I didn't have my phone with me wherever I went. I had the tendency to constantly check on Facebook for my friends' updates and pictures. But the first time I had no choice but to leave my phone behind was when I went to Outdoor Science Camp in eighth grade. When I found out that we weren't allowed to bring our phones, I was completely lost and didn't
Nguyen 2 bare the thought of not having my phone with me. But when I was away from my phone and the internet, I felt more free and alive than I had in a long time. I forgot the feeling of just living in the moment and not always having to show people online what I was up to or to check on updates that were irrelevant to me. From then on, I limited myself from using my phone and going on the internet.
Being away from all the advance technology that we have today is very difficult. I, myself, admit that I

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The impact of our smartphone obsession is making us lonely and alienating us from friends, family, and partners. In the beginning of the video “I Forgot My Phone”, there is a couple in bed “while [the man] pays no mind and checks his smartphone.” At the end of the video, as the couple gets back in bed, the man is still browsing the web on his phone. The woman, who is being ignored, inspires our pity, but the man is pathetic because he is “talking” to a lifeless device rather than having a conversation with the real person lying right beside him. If the man keeps doing this, the woman will not only leave “he and his phone” alone, but will also break up with the man since the more time you spends on your phone, the “easier” you will become alienated from others. Serena, one of my friends, had a similar experience of being isolated. She had more than a thousand friends and a hundred thousand followers on her Facebook, and needed to spend six hours a day on her phone to response to the comments on Facebook. Serena was using her phone during work, on the subway, and even in bed until she fell asleep since this was the only way to maintain the relationships with her Facebook friends and followers on the Internet. In the virtual world, she was a celebrity of sorts; however, no one would invite her to any activity because they thought she either already had too…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    fast entertainment

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages

    When walking around at the mall, work, or at a college campus, every person has a cell phone out texting, playing a game, or on social media sites, instead of paying attention to the world around them. Cell phones are not just a privilege in people’s lives anymore but have become a necessity in order for people to function on a daily basis. Cell phones have many…

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Fahrenheit 451, it describes a similar experience; “Picture it. Nineteen century man with his horses, dogs, carts, slow motion. Then in the twentieth century speed up your camera. Books cut shorter. Condensation. Digest tabloids. Everything boils down to the gag, the snap ending. (page 52).” Thus, implying that life has become fast pace and individuals have very little time to read, enjoy life or hobbies. In fact, the use of cell phones today dictates the life of many teenagers who don’t have time to socialize face to face and conveniently do so through cell phones. Furthermore, messages are condensed to abbreviations such as ‘lol’ and ‘omg’ as a way of saving time. Additionally, “There was a tiny dance of melody in the air, her Seashell was tamped in her ear again and she was listening to people far away…why didn’t he buy himself and audio-Seashell station and talk to his wife late at night…(page 39)” This scene shows how Montag wants to talk to his wife but she is constantly on her ear phones. This is yet another example that can compare to how teenagers today are constantly using technology so much that is distracts them from other…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The two articles, “Why Being a Thinker means Pocketing your Smartphone” by Todd Leopold and “Have Smartphones killed boredom (and is that good?)” by Doug Gross, bring up good points about how smartphones affect our lives. Today, smartphones are mainly used to help eliminate boredom in our lives, but they also can distract us from what's going on around us. When they aren't being used to distract us, they can become a useful tool to help us in our daily lives; such as, checking/writing emails, calling, texting, checking the news, and so much more. These applications can easily distract us as well.…

    • 184 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Having a cell phone is a really good thing to have for emergencies or any other type of situation you’re in. using your phone is fine but using it a lot does affect the way you see the world, once you do let go of that phone you should notice things more. Many teens and very few adults use phones a lot but mostly the young adults use it more often. Cell phones creates us humans to struggle in particular occasions because we don’t pay attention to what were supposed to be doing, phones makes us talk to our friends more by texting but less by a face-to-face conversation with one another, and last having a cell phone and using it all the time affects the young adults at school and the adults at work due to them not paying attention to what they have to do. So you…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    All the time you see people’s eyes glued onto their phones and drowning the whole world out. People get so distracted from technology and they don’t really care about what’s going on around them, people tend to grow distant from people. When you go somewhere just look around, everybody has their phone or some other device in their hands, and if it’s not in their hands it’s near them. Americans are so attached to technology that it literally drives us away from families/friends. In the 1920’s this wasn’t a problem at all. They didn’t have the high technology that we have today but they still had phones and it didn’t cause them to grow distant from people. They would still go out and have a good time. But today, if you can’t have your cell phone with you, it’s like the end of the world. in the article “Smartphone Dependency: A Growing Obsession With Gadgets”, the writer says, “For others, being away from their phone will almost certainly cause separation anxiety.” This truly shows how attached americans are to their…

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the section of the book the author talks about how cell phones integrated into our society and how we adapted to using cell phones every day in our lives. The author first talks about how cell phones first came to be and how they evolved over time and became a trend. As we know it, today almost everyone has a cell phone. The author’s view on cell phones is that it’s good for us but at the same time it’s bad for us. She says that cell phones gives us new ways of communicating but it also closes us from talking to strangers and making new friends.…

    • 551 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Yet here we are, and it is indeed a wondrous age. The only problem is that some people don’t seem to know when to unplug. There is nothing more disconcerting to me than when I am talking to someone and they pull out their phone and start checking their messages. I’ve seen couples out on dates paying more attention to their phones than to each other. And there isn’t a teacher or trainer I know who hasn’t had to cope with students taking phone calls during class.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I would not say that I am addicted to my smart phone, but I do not like when I do not have my phone around me because it makes me feel like I am lost. The reason why I say I'm not addicted is because most people who are addicted to their phones who the ones who can never stop checking their phone. Me personality I can deal with out my phone if my parents having my phone if I ever got in trouble. But some people who gets their phone taken they will not be able to focus without their phones. Also those are the ones who is always on the social media websites and are the ones that are constantly checking their phones. I feel like I'm not as addicted to my phone like how I used to be, I think the reason why is because I got tired of always being…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Face to face communication is becoming almost non-existent in our society today. Talking in person has become an option instead of a necessity. Sending a text or email has become much easier than having to walk to the next room to hold a conversation with that person. Obviously texting, email, and other forms of technology have its benefits and make life easier but the value of a conversation with someone else is deteriorating. Everything that can be said in person can now be said in a text message with a completely different impression of the emotion being portrayed. Along with face to face communication, people are missing out on the little things due to the attachment of their phones. The phone has almost become as essential as another body part. When walking around a college campus, about every student has a cell phone out texting or checking a voicemail instead of paying attention to the world around them. All the self-involvement in the cell phone causes a person to become more focused inwardly, which leaves less room for anything else such as the people around you or noticing how you feel about the things you are surrounded by. When you’re speaking on your cell phone, you…

    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is boredom good or bad?

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Everyone I know, myself included, relies to heavily on technology. When my iPhone reaches a level below 25% battery it makes me nervous. I begin to question, what will I do without my phone, what if someone posts something on Facebook, or tags me in a tweet? A couple of years ago I was involved in a research project. I let my phone, computer and iPod die and didn’t charge them for 48 hours to see what I would do with my time instead of face book, twitter, and other useless time-fillers all contained within this small computer. On top of that I unplugged my television and did not touch any of my electronics for a whole day. That one day was one of the most productive I have ever had. I finished all my homework completely and thoroughly in what felt like no time at all. When I took a break from doing my work I had nothing to do except think; which I loved. I thought, I drew, I read, I talked and I had a great day. I never thought that I could survive the day without technology but I did more that…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Social Media Diet

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Not having my phone had a lot of obvious impacts on my life, but it also had a few that I had not thought about. For example, the night before I decided to go without a phone I realized I needed it for an alarm to get up before school. My mother woke me up the following day when she got up to go to work so acted as my alarm for the day. Obvious impacts were the fact that I couldn't text people I was used to talking to everyday of my life. Social media sites went out the window for the day as well as I only check them on my phone and didn't have access to them. My only real source of the outside world was the television.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Social media and smart phones are now a permanent part of society, and I think that is, for the most part, a positive thing. I, for one, am going to try to set aside my phone and ignore Facebook for hours at a time, and I’m going to get out of the habit of touching my phone during family and school times. I want to someday have a family, and when I do, devices will not be allowed at family meetings, so it makes sense to get out of the habit now. I’m going to continue to post interesting articles and photos when I see them. But I’m not going to constantly check to see how many "likes" and "comments"I have. As for using my smartphone in public, that’s not really an issue for me. I’m…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Denying the fact that teenagers spend too much time on their mobile phones and computers will be an injustice. It will be like lying to ourselves. Being a teenager myself, I willingly admit to the fact that we do spend too much time on our technologies. We cannot help it; with time, incredible inventions have mastered to better our lives and being born in the new generation, the youth have quickly adapted to the changes, particularly the teenagers. While others think this habit is full of catches, it has got its perks as well.…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Joy of Missing Out

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The answer to my thoughts is very simple. While every now and again I see a photo of my best friend’s new sister or something of the sort, most events people post about are not really worth even looking at. Honestly, some are completely useless. But for some reason, I find myself, as many others do, drawn to keep checking this source of useless information. It is actually very amazing at how overwhelming the vast amount of nothingness going on in people’s lives is. I noticed that I wasn’t exactly “happy” or even entertained by these posts, just occupied. So in response, to combat my addiction to this constant source of media, I turned my phone off along with my computer, flipped off the switch to my lights, and went outside to my backyard, which seemed to glow a deep blue under the refractions of light from the pool water. For once in a very long time, since I had gotten that first entrancing phone, I felt as if I was without worry, at ease with myself. I realized at that moment that my phone, and even my computer, wasn’t a necessity in my life. However, I also realized that many people are extremely dependent on their mobile devices for everyday life. I can unfortunately classify myself as one of those people. I constantly focus on others so much that I can forget to focus on my life.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays